Is the Rose the Destiny?
by Poetess Xylophila
Summary: Anthy set foot on a journey to find Utena after the duel called 'Revolution'. She did find Utena, but Utena was not quite the same.  Post anime, very slight crossover with Magic Knight Rayearth.


Disclaimer:I do not own Shoujo Kakumei Utena (also know as Revolutionary Girl Utena and La Fillette Revolutionaire) or Magic Knight Rayearth or any of the characters. They belong to Be-papas and Saito Chiho and Clamp respectively.

Is the Rose the Destiny?

Prologue

'I am now on the way to find you. Wait for me, Utena!' said Anthy Himemiya, and she stepped out of the gate of Ohtori Academy, with the company of Chuchu.

Three years later. China.

Anthy Himemiya was walking in the busy streets of Shanghai. Every now and then she stopped by a shop and asked for the information of Utena Tenjou. 'This is the four hundred thousand and fifty first time of getting a negative answer, Chuchu,' said Anthy, calmly.

'Chu! Chuchuchu!' answered Chuchu.

'No, I won't be disappointed. It is Utena who set me free from bounds, and of course she has her right to hide from me. But I will find you, Utena!' she said the last sentence aloud, and smiled. People around her looked at her strangely, then walked away.

'I guess you're hungry, Chuchu? Let's find a restaurant and eat.'

'Chu!'

'Welcome! How many seats?' A waitress immediately approached them when they walked into the restaurant.

'One, please,' answered Anthy politely.

'What kind of tea would you like?'

'Pu-er, please.'

After a while, the tea came. Anthy gave one cup to Chuchu.

'Chu! Chuchu!' Chuchu did not drink the tea.

'You don't like Chinese tea?' asked Anthy. But the sharp sixth sense of pisces told her there was something important to happen. She looked around, looking for clues.

'Chu!' Chuchu's right hand pointed to a table near to the kitchen. That table was a few metres away from Anthy's.

Anthy looked at the direction Chuchu pointed. Then, her gaze glued to a figure, and could never move away.

That figure was tall and slim, with short hair. Even though that figure wore a painter's hat, Anthy still regconised the figure at once. Who on Earth could ever have natural pink hair?

Just before Anthy ran over to Utena Tenjou, Anthy noticed there was a man just beside Utena. Anthy rooted to the ground. Before long, that man left the restaurant with Utena.

Seeing their departure, Anthy at once put down some money on the table and ran out into the street. 'No need to change please,' she said as she passed by a waitress.

Anthy thanked her lucky stars when she was able to follow the man and Utena quietly, instead of losing them. They walked up a hill and went inside a cave.

Anthy noted the name of the hill was Hill of Phoenix. Anthy did not enter the cave, instead, she listened outside.

'Zagato sama,' said Utena Tenjou,'let me lean on your breast and listen to your heartbeat.'

'I don't mind,' Zagato answered.'But no sama for me, Utena.'

'I cannot, I feel I depend on you totally only I call you sama.' There was a heart break tone in Utena's voice.

'Chu?' Anthy Himemiya was able to pull back her voice from pronouncing anything, but Chuchu could not avoid his question.

'Who? Who is outside? Enter and meet us!' Zagato and Utena said together.

Anthy and Chuchu entered the cave, shyly.'My dear Utena...' Anthy's voice broke off.

'Who are you?' Zagato asked coldly, thinking of how to protect Utena when danger loomed in way.

'Utena!' Anthy ignored his question.'You have changed so much! You have changed your style of dressing, your motto, and even your way of life! Can I still believe that you are the one who set me free from the fate of being an eternal rose bride? Can I still regconise you as the one I once betrayed, the active, noble and innocent Utena? Can I still regard you as the Utena I have been looking for in these years?'

'WHO ARE YOU?' Zagato repeated the question boldly.

'Zagato sama, please be not furious,' Utena spoke softly.'Anthy, it is true that I have changed during these years. I am no longer a prince, I am just a normal human being, just like Miki and Juri do. I also want somebody to depend upon, you have to understand, being a prince forever is really tiring. Now I am tired, so I have fallen.

'I do not blame you for your betrayal, Anthy,' Utena continued after a brief pause,'I know the fault belongs to Dios and you are only his tool. But I was still hurt, not only physically, of which can heal in time, but more importantly, I was hurt emotionally. Even though I was a prince, I was still human, and I felt I could not bear the pain in Ohtori Academy, because everything there could remind me of your betrayal, so I left and searched for somebody I could depend upon. At last I found Zagato sama. He secured me. So I decided he was the man I would depend on in my life. It is better for you to leave and find your true prince. In the future, we may be able to get in touch in some ways.'

'I want my old Utena back,' Anthy exclaimed.'I want the noble Utena back! I want my prince back! Zagato, I AM GOING TO DUEL with YOU!'

'What will you do if I win?' Zagato asked insultingly.

'I will go away at once and find my own prince. Utena will no longer be my prince.' Anthy answered firmly.'What about you if I win?'

'Utena Tenjou will be yours, and I shall return to Rayearth.' Zagato answered lightly.

'Let us walk up to the hill top as the dueling ground,' said Utena quietly. In a second, her clothes changed to the bridedress which she wore when meeting Dios. It was pink and dark blue rimmed, with the style exactly the same as Anthy's bride groom. Utena then started walkinginthe front, followed by Zagato, then Anthy and Chuchu. No one made a sound on the way.

When they arrived at the arena, Chuchu and Utena stepped aside. In a minute, Utena produced two swords and two roses from nowhere. She gave Zagato the purple sword and put the purple rose in his breast pocket, while Anthy received red rose and the red sword.

'The loser is the one who has one's own rose shattered into pieces.' Utena told them.'Now you may start.' And she stepped back.

(Here you can imagine Anthy as Utena and Zagato as Touga in the TV version.)

Anthy was fighting hard to get Utena back, and she fought without any rule, and did not care about her wounds. On the contrary, Zagato fought at ease with excellent skill, as he was sure Anthy would lose. After fifteen minutes, Anthy started to grow tired and her movements slowed down a bit. Zagato was then able to drive his sword to the aim flawlessly, her rose.

In seconds, the red rose petals fly in the air and then fall slowly on the arena.

The petals were so red that they looked like drops of blood.

'The winner and loser are known,' Utena announced flatly, 'Zagato sama, I shall go with you.'

'Utena sama!' Anthy forgot to change her habit due to her failure.'Utena sama! You're always my prince! My prince! Utena sama! Utena sama...' she collasped to the ground and cried bitterly.

'Himemiya san, I have changed too much. I can no longer be your prince. Please go and find your true prince now.' Then Utena turned to Zagato.'Let's go, Zagato sama.' And Zagato and Utena left the arena.

Anthy fell into pieces. Hours later, Chuchu protested of hunger even though it had sympathy for Anthy.

'Chuchuchu! Chuchuchu! Chuchuchu!'

'Chuchu, I have no appetite at all. But all right, we will leave the arena.' Her voice was broken and unclear.

Hours later, she was walking in the streets again. It was already midnight. There were some food stores open at night, and she ordered a Shanghainese noodles with meat dumplings.

'I want to go back to Ohtori Academy, Chuchu,' Anthy murmured.'My prince has vanished, I want to wait for another prince. Another TRUE prince.' The steam from the hot noodles clouded her face. No one but Anthy herself knew her real expression of the moment.

Chuchu froze for a moment. And then,'Chuchuchu! Chuchuchuchuchuchuchu! Chu!'

'Yes, I would once more become the rose bride. I would once more become heartless. But I would wait for another prince, and I would not let my prince disappear again.'

One month later. Ohtori Academy. The Room of Directors.

'Brother, would you welcome back to the school as the Rose Bride?' Anthy asked aimlessly.

At the moment Anthy finished her question, the lift door openned. From the lift came out a princess, wearing the rose bridedress, with light purple as the basic colour, and the rimmings were in light yellow. That bride had long golden wavy hair. Right on her forehead she wore a ring with three big emeralds. 'Prin... Princess Emeraude? Princess Emeraude of Rayearth?'

Princess Emeraude bowed her head.

'She is my new rose bride, Himemiya Anthy. You chose to leave me three years ago, and now you come back for the position of Rose Bride. I am sorry, but I reject your demand. Please leave Ohtori Academy at once.' Ohtori Akio spoke aauthoratively.'Now please leave.'

Anthy pulled Princess Emeraude tightly.'Come with me, Princess Emeraude, Ohtori is actually Dios, the dark Dios! You are only his tool, just like me years ago...'

'Stop! Anthy Himemiya!' shouted Akio.

'Himemiya san,' said Princess Emeraude softly,'I wish not leave. I want to be with Monk Zagato to eternity. I care not what I become for the moment, I only aim for the power of eternity, so that Rayearth would not fall into ruins. I must stay as Rose Bride, in exchange for the power of eternity.'

'No, Princess Emeraude, you will never get that power. My prince has vanished already, Princess Emeraude. Nobody can be the light Dios, not even my Tenjou Utena. He is too noble for anyone to follow his path. Please leave here at once and forget Ohtori Academy totally.' Anthy was still holding Princess Emeraude's hand.

'Don't force others leave with you, Anthy Himemiya.' Ohtori walked towards the two Rose Brides, and seperated them.'Leave here at once.'His voice was firm.

'Let GO!' exclaimed Anthy. And Ohtori let her hand go.'Chuchu, we will go on a journey, without destination.' She pronounced the words in despair.'Goodbye, everybody.'

'Chu!' Chuchu said with delight.

Along her way of the journey, she hummed a poem:

Oh, My Prince

_Who is my prince? Elegant and noble_

_Who is my prince? Save me from sorrow_

_I, the bride, the Bride of Rose_

_Waiting for my prince, the heart most adorable_

_People call me witch, the witch killed the prince_

_People insulted me, punished me, hoping my heart get rinsed_

_I become the cursed one_

_The eternal sacrifice, and Hades I have won._

_Once I betrayed a prince, a prince dear to me_

_And the prince has fallen, fall to the bottom of stream_

_The prince said she wanted to be supported_

_And asked me to find another prince, declaring our friendship has_

_ended._

_So I travel, travel, travel and travel_

_Hoping to find the heart most noble_

_I dare not rest, I dare not err_

_Hoping at last approach light with him or her._

~~ The End ~~


End file.
